SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a critical application from on-premises to AWS. The application uses a shared file system for user uploads and logs. The company wants a highly available, durable, and low-latency solution. Which AWS storage service should the company use?
⚠ Common exam trap
SAP-C02 often tests the confusion between block (EBS), file (EFS/FSx), and object (S3) storage — candidates who pick S3 for 'shared' workloads miss that S3 is not a POSIX file system and cannot be mounted natively.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon EFS
Amazon EFS is a fully managed, elastic NFS file system that can be mounted concurrently by multiple EC2 instances and containers across Availability Zones, providing high availability, durability (11 nines), and low-latency shared access. It is purpose-built for shared file workloads like user uploads and logs, and it scales automatically without provisioning. This matches the requirement for a highly available, durable, low-latency shared file system.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Amazon EFS
Why this is correct
Amazon EFS provides a shared, POSIX-compliant NFS file system that multiple EC2 instances across Availability Zones can mount concurrently, meeting the shared-uploads-and-logs requirement. Its regional, replicated design delivers the durability and high availability demanded, while general-purpose performance mode keeps latency low for file operations.
- ✗
Amazon EBS
Why it's wrong here
Amazon EBS volumes attach to a single EC2 instance in one Availability Zone, so they cannot back a shared multi-instance file system. It is tempting because EBS gives low-latency block storage, and would be correct for a single instance's boot volume or database data requiring consistent IOPS.
- ✗
Amazon FSx for Windows File Server
Why it's wrong here
FSx for Windows File Server provides SMB shares, so Linux workloads needing NFS and POSIX permissions cannot mount it natively. It is tempting because it delivers highly available, durable shared Windows storage, and would be correct for Windows applications requiring SMB and Active Directory integration.
- ✗
Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
Amazon S3 is object storage accessed via HTTP APIs, so it cannot be mounted as a shared POSIX file system for concurrent uploads and log writes. It is tempting because S3 delivers eleven-nines durability and high availability for static objects, and would be correct for storing backups, media or archived logs rather than live shared files.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
This SAP-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAP-C02 exam.